New Day Dawning
by MoonytheMarauder1
Summary: Andromeda Black had never agreed with the idea of blood purity— how could she, when Ted Tonks was a Muggleborn? Her sisters, though, were known to be very cruel to Muggleborns— and they had just set their sights on Ted.


**A/N: Hey y'all! I'm back for Round 2 for the Falcons.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Those rights go to JK Rowling.**

 **Chaser 2: Write about a character whose deceit or intent to harm ends positively for the recipient/s.**

 **(Word) ancient**

 **(Spell) Levicorpus**

 **(Setting) Forbidden Forest**

 **Word Count: 3000**

 **Enjoy!**

Andromeda Black was curled up in the Slytherin common room, her silver and green striped scarf wound snugly around her neck. It was always drafty in the dungeons. She shifted slightly, glad she had grabbed a seat close to the fireplace. An ancient tome sat open on her lap, but as much as she loved to delve into the most complicated aspects of Divination, at that moment she simply couldn't concentrate on the text in front of her.

It was Andromeda's fifth year at Hogwarts, and her OWLs were steadily approaching. Unfortunately, all of her attempts to study thus far had proven useless. A certain brown-haired, blue-eyed Hufflepuff kept invading her thoughts.

Ted Tonks. Kind, handsome, a gifted wizard— everything a girl (well, Andromeda, at least) could hope for. Everything a family could want for their daughter or sister. But not her family. There was one problem... Ted was Muggleborn.

That was a major problem for the Black family. For Merlin's sake, their motto was Toujours Pur. The Blacks thought that any witch or wizard that did not come from a long line of magical ancestors was unworthy of their magical talent. Needless to say, Andromeda kept her crush a secret.

Still, Ted kept popping into her head. He didn't even know she existed, or else didn't care, but the very first Charms class they had together, she had noticed him. She hadn't stopped noticing him. She only hoped that her sisters wouldn't.

Looking for a distraction, Andromeda turned to her younger sister Narcissa, who was scribbling away in a tattered old journal Uncle Orion had gifted her on her eleventh birthday. "What are you writing, Cissy?"

Narcissa looked up, her blonde hair swinging in front of her blue eyes. The third-year Black looked her sister up and down, seemingly deep in thought. Finally, Narcissa spoke.

"Promise you won't tell Bella?"

Andromeda was surprised, to say the least. Bellatrix and Narcissa always seemed so close—closer than they were with Andromeda, anyways. After a moment, she smiled reassuringly at her little sister. "Cissy, you know that I don't need a reason to keep a secret from Bella."

Narcissa looked relieved. She pushed her journal towards Andromeda. "All right, then. I've been researching different principles of magic, and I've got the basics down, I think—I've been making my own spells. Little ones," she said quickly, misunderstanding the astonished look on Andromeda's face. "They don't all work properly, and I still have a lot to improve on—"

"Cissy!" exclaimed Andromeda excitedly as she skimmed over her sister's notes. "This is incredible! You know, with a mind like yours, you'll go places."

Narcissa looked at her older sister shyly, a soft smile on her delicate features. "You really think so?"

Andromeda beamed, immeasurably proud of her sister. "Oh, definitely."

Narcissa practically glowed from the praise, but then her face fell and her shoulders slumped. "Bella wouldn't think so. She thinks studying is a waste of time." She hesitated before adding, "Other than the Dark Arts, I mean."

Andromeda sighed. "Bella has her own views, Cissy. She doesn't love you any less."

Narcissa shrugged and picked at a loose thread on her robe sleeve. "I just don't want to disappoint her. She says family is everything, after all. Everyone's so proud of her, she must be right."

Andromeda didn't know what to say to that. She loved her sisters, truly she did, but sometimes she wondered if they had grown too far apart already.

She looked over Narcissa's notebook once more, reading a couple of the spells her sister was developing, then pushed it back to her with one last smile.

* * *

The next day found Andromeda with her two sisters on the Hogwarts grounds, her heart pounding at Bellatrix's latest accusation. She winced as her sister's long nails dug into her upper arm. Still, she held her ground.

"No, Bella." she said evenly, thanking Merlin that her voice was steady. "I'm not a blood traitor."

Earlier that day, Bellatrix had caught her greeting a Ravenclaw in her Herbology class— a Muggleborn Ravenclaw.

Bellatrix Black smiled cruelly. "Oh, Andromeda, I never said you were, dear. I simply noticed how… friendly you are towards Mudbloods."

Andromeda shivered at the use of the offensive term. "Just because I'm polite to them when they speak to me doesn't mean I feel anything other than disgust towards— towards Mudbloods."

Bellatrix flicked her dark, glossy hair over her shoulder. Her heavy-lidded eyes surveyed her younger sister thoughtfully. Bellatrix was two years Andromeda's senior, just as Narcissa was two years younger than Andromeda. The seventh-year grinned, shark-like in appearance. "Prove it."

Andromeda looked up sharply, startled. "W-what?"

Bellatrix's eyes were cold. "You heard me. Over there," she pointed towards the Great Lake, where a group of Hufflepuffs sat. "is a Mudblood— Tonks, I think his name is. The one with brown hair."

Andromeda's heart was threatening to burst right through her ribcage. She was panicking, she knew, though she tried desperately to hide it. Her breathing had turned shallow, and her face had gone pale. She bit her lip, praying that she wouldn't be asked to do anything too horrible to him. She quite liked him, after all. When she looked at him, she could see none of the Mudblood dirt that her sisters saw.

Not that that would change what she would be asked to do.

"What about him?"

"Hex him. Cast whatever you want on him, I don't care, Andromeda." Bellatrix leaned forward. "Prove your loyalty to the Black family."

Andromeda felt physically sick. Loyalty to the Black family. The thing was, she wasn't sure how far she was willing to go for the sake of her family. She had strong morals, and they didn't include ridiculing someone because of blood status. Then again... her family's wrath wasn't exactly something one took lightly.

Merlin, she wished Bellatrix was out of school already, and not still in her seventh year.

Andromeda looked helplessly at Narcissa, who simply shrugged. "He's just a Mudblood, Dromeda. He can't do anything to you."

Clearly, she misunderstood the reason behind Andromeda's hesitance.

Andromeda hugged herself, wishing that this was all just a dream. She exhaled slowly, and bit her lip until she tasted blood. Bitterly, she thought that Ted's blood would taste just as much like iron as hers did.

Andromeda lowered her gaze, feeling the burn of her sisters' stares.

"I can't," she whispered. "I just... can't."

Bellatrix looked livid. "Fine." she seethed. Her eyes bore into Andromeda, and for the first time in her life, Andromeda was truly terrified of her sister.

To Andromeda's shock, Narcissa stepped forwards eagerly. "I can do it, Bella." she insisted. "Let me make our family proud."

Bellatrix's beautiful lips curved upwards in a sinister smile. There was something that looked akin to madness glowing in her eyes, and foreboding washed over Andromeda like a wave.

"Wait," she gasped. She tried to think of something to say to stop her sisters, but her mind was blank. The truth was, Andromeda has accepted that she and Bellatrix would always have conflicting views. But she'd never considered that she might lose Narcissa for good.

Bellatrix lifted her chin haughtily, and Andromeda wondered how it was possible to look so beautiful yet so very ugly all at once.

"Do it."

Andromeda began shaking, horrified, as Narcissa made her way towards Ted.

"Tonks!" called Narcissa, her features now indistinguishable from Bellatrix's. "Come here, Mudblood—"

"No!" Andromeda broke out of her daze and ran to her little sister, her sister who might yet be saved from their family's extremist ways. She grabbed Narcissa's arm. "Cissy, please—I love him!"

Surprise flooded Narcissa's face, and for a moment, Andromeda was sure that everything would be all right. But then her eyes darkened, and Andromeda felt her heart stop. "We'll find a nice Pureblood for you to love, Dromeda. A wizard worthy of you."

The words Narcissa had just spoken might as well have come from Bellatrix's mouth. It was truly terrible to realize that she would no longer have an ally in Narcissa—the damage was done. Tears sprung to Andromeda's eyes as she whispered, "You can't force me to love someone else, Cissy."

"You say you love him," replied Narcissa harshly. "But how could you, when you don't even know him?"

Andromeda didn't know. She just knew that what she could have with Ted, what she wanted with Ted, she could not find with anyone else.

Before she could respond, Bellatrix yanked her off of Narcissa, pinning her arms to her side. She grinned maliciously, and Andromeda felt a wave of hate for her older sister wash over her.

Bellatrix nodded at their sister. "Go ahead, Narcissa." she said calmly. "Finish what you started. Mother and Father will be most pleased."

Those were the magic words. Wand raised, Narcissa turned back to the Hufflepuffs and continued marching in their direction. Andromeda struggled desperately against her sister's grip, trying to reach her own wand. But Bellatrix held on too tightly.

When he was called once more, Ted looked up, his soft eyes meeting Narcissa's. "Er— yes?"

Narcissa drew herself up to her full height, which, at thirteen, wasn't saying much. She aimed her wand at Ted, whose eyes widened in realization at what was about to happen.

Narcissa's face was blank as she gazed at her prey. Ted scrambled for his wand, but he wasn't fast enough. Andromeda's dark hair flew into her glassy blue eyes as she begged with her sisters to stop, to let him go, to not hurt him, please don't hurt him—

Then, Narcissa used one of the spells Andromeda had been so proud of her for creating just yesterday.

"Levicorpus."

As though in slow motion, Andromeda watched as a jet of pale blue light flew towards Ted.

Please, she thought frantically. Please, let it be defective. Let it not work.

It didn't work properly, but it worked well enough.

Ted was wrenched into the air by his ankle, his head hitting a rock as he was flung upside down. He wavered there for a few moments, the group of students around them laughing cruelly, before the spell suddenly backfired and he fell— into the lake.

He came up spluttering, his face red from embarrassment, and Andromeda wanted to cry. Any hope she'd had of a future with him had drowned in the lake. She'd be lucky if he'd even look at her after this.

"Oh, Dromeda." soothed Bellatrix, her mouth against Andromeda's ear. "He was only a Mudblood. There are boys here—pure boys—who'd kill to earn your affections."

Something inside her broke then. This had caused a permanent rift between the Black sisters, and Andromeda was not interested in mending it.

With a scream, Andromeda threw Bellatrix's arms off of her. Then she sprinted into the Forbidden Forest, ignoring the shouts behind her, and the laughter, the laughter, that echoed around her reminded her of everything she had just lost.

* * *

It could have been minutes or hours later, Andromeda didn't know. Ted's lakeside ridicule kept replaying itself in her mind. She felt so ashamed to be related to her sisters, and even more ashamed to realize that had it been any other Muggleborn, she'd have let them do it.

Her shoulders shook as she sobbed into her hands. She was curled up against an ancient, gnarled oak deep in the Forest, trying to forget the fact that she had successfully made herself an outcast from her family, and that Ted would be too angry to even think about her from that moment on. She was so distraught that she couldn't muster up enough energy to even be scared of the Forest, like she would normally. She almost wished that some big, monstrous being would come gobble her up, so reluctant was she to face anyone ever again.

She didn't register his presence until he spoke.

"Er... are you all right, Miss, uh, Black?"

She looked up sharply. There was Ted sitting next to her against the tree, smiling at her awkwardly. Her face flushed as she thought how she must look— eyes red and puffy, tears staining her cheeks, her hair a mess. Not to mention the cuts and bruises littering her skin from her dash into the forest. She was mortified.

"What?" she asked hoarsely.

He rubbed the back of his head nervously. There was a bruise on his head from where it had banged against the rock. "I don't hate you, or anything, you know. Unless you want me to, and I completely misread the situation." he added quickly.

Andromeda frowned. "Why... why don't you?"

He shrugged. "You tried to stop your sister. I saw you. I couldn't hear what you were saying, but I know you tried to stick up for me." He paused, then added, "Besides, none of my Housemates stood up for me, so you already did more than they have."

Andromeda wiped at her eyes miserably. "So? I'm sure they were just frightened. We don't exactly have the best reputation, us Blacks. Anyway, now you won't be able to look at me without thinking of this incident, and now my family will hate me. My family..." she took a shuddering breath. "They..."

"I've heard." Ted murmured. "I'm so sorry about that. But who said I'll hate you? I just said I don't. You seem really great, Andromeda. Brilliant, even." He paused before saying, "Your sister's spell, though—I haven't read about it. She came up with it herself, didn't she? Impressive, for a thirteen-year-old."

Andromeda ogled him. "She attacked you out of prejudice, and you're complimenting her spellwork?"

Ted shrugged, eyes gleaming with mirth. "She has some fire in her, that one."

Andromeda laughed, and Ted joined in. Once they had settled down, she looked at him shyly. "You really don't hate me?"

He shook his head. "Family doesn't define a person." he stated wisely. "I think—well, I think you're a pretty decent witch."

Andromeda's heart glowed. "R-really?"

Ted grinned, looking at his lap. "Yeah."

Andromeda smiled, amazed at the turn of events.

"We have Charms and Astronomy together." Ted blurted.

Andromeda looked at him strangely. "Er... I know."

Ted looked embarrassed. "Oh. Right. Well, I, er, wanted to know if you, perhaps... wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

Andromeda stared at him, and he quickly tried to take back his words. "I mean, if you don't want to, that's fine, I just thought I'd ask—"

"Yes," breathed Andromeda. "Yes, I'll go to Hogsmeade with you!"

Ted looked overjoyed. "Brilliant!" He stood up, brushing off of his robes, then offered his hand to pull her up. She accepted gratefully, grinning at the smile that had taken over his face. "That's brilliant, Andromeda."

Her grin grew even wider. "Yes," she agreed. "Absolutely brilliant."

* * *

That evening, Andromeda (after having dinner with Ted—he knew where the kitchens were) reluctantly made her way back to the Slytherin common room.

As expected, Andromeda was not welcomed warmly. Her Housemates either ignored her or were openly hostile, so she quickly made her way up to her dormitory, grateful for the absence of cold stares.

She sat on the edge of her bed and put her head in her hands. She had known, of course, that this would happen, but that hadn't prepared her for the hurt she was currently feeling. She was just thankful that she hadn't run into her sisters yet.

Deciding to focus on her wonderful dinner with Ted instead of the abuse she was sure to face tomorrow, Andromeda lay down in her bed and drew the curtains. As she did so, however, her hand bumped into Narcissa's school bag—she had left it there earlier that day when the girls had been studying together.

Andromeda stared at it for a moment. She knew that the journal, that blasted journal, was somewhere in that bag, hidden amongst a multitude of textbooks. Her fingers itched to grab it and run, destroy it somehow. It had started this whole, miserable mess, after all. But something stopped her.

Yes, that small notebook full of half-formed spells had caused her an awful lot of trouble, but without it, Ted might never have gathered up enough courage to approach her. Andromeda certainly wouldn't have had the strength to stand up for him if she hadn't known just how sadistic her sisters could be towards Muggleborns.

Yes, as much as she wished otherwise, that journal had been a key part in Andromeda and Ted's budding relationship. Still, Andromeda didn't have to destroy the journal to get rid of it…

* * *

Five years later, third-year Severus Snape was sitting sullenly by the fireplace in the Slytherin common room. He couldn't stop replaying the humiliating scene Potter had caused— and right in front of Lily, too! Snape swore to himself that somehow, someday, he'd make Potter pay…

As he was plotting revenge on James Potter, a brick in the fireplace that wasn't quite put in right caught his eye. Frowning, he pulled it out, then reached his hand inside the hole he'd created. He wasn't sure why he thought anything was there, but a moment later he withdrew a tattered, soot-covered notebook. It looked ancient, but he suspected that that was due to where it had been residing for who-knew-how-long. He wiped it off as best he could, but still couldn't make out the name of the owner printed on the front. As he flipped through the pages, a smirk began to form on his lips.

He quickly pulled out his mother's old Potions textbook and began to scribble his own thoughts about the spells written in the journal in the margins. With a little work, he could develop spells that would have Potter and Black begging for mercy.

One particular spell caught his eye. Levicorpus. He decided to work on that one first.

Oh, yes. This was turning out to be a very good day indeed.


End file.
